An association, in adult Japanese, between the occurrence of rogue cells among cultured lymphocytes (JC virus activity) and the frequency of "simple" chromosomal damage among the lymphocytes of persons exhibiting these rogue cells.

Data from a previous study of the cytogenetic effects, in cultured lymphocytes, of exposure to the atomic bomb in Hiroshima have been reanalyzed to determine the relationship between the occurrence of "rogue" cells in an individual and the frequency of "simple" chromosomal damage in the nonrogue cells of the same individual. Rogue cells are cells with complex chromosomal damage, currently believed to be a manifestation of the activity of a human polyoma virus termed "JC." Among a total of 1,835 persons examined, there were 45 exhibiting rogue cells. A total of 179,599 cells were scored for simple chromosomal damage. In both the exposed and the control populations, there was an absolute increase of approximately 1.5% in the frequency of simple chromosomal damage in the nonrogue cells of those exhibiting rogue cells, when compared with the frequencies observed in those not exhibiting rogue cells, which is a statistically significant difference. It is argued that this phenomenon, occurring not only in lymphocytes but possibly also in other cells/tissues, may play a contributory role in the origin of malignancies characterized by clonal chromosome abnormalities. Unexpectedly, among those exhibiting rogue cells, there was a disproportionately greater representation of persons who had received relatively high radiation exposures from the bomb. The reason for this is unclear, but it is tempting to relate the finding to some lingering effect of the exposure (or the circumstances surrounding the exposure) on immunocompetence.